


where we can talk like there's something to say (and i like you)

by VeriLee



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Author Knows Nothing About Accounting, Awkward Flirting, Ben Hates Valentine's Day, F/M, Office Romance, Rey Changes His Mind, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, reylovalentines2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 13:24:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17788217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeriLee/pseuds/VeriLee
Summary: Ben Solo had celebrated Valentine's Day exactly three times in his life, not counting class parties in elementary school. And each experience only made him want to disregard the whole thing - a phony holiday cooked up by Hallmark. But maybe he just hasn't been spending it with the right person.Or, Ben Solo hates Valentine's Day until Rey changes his mind.--A Reylo Valentine's prompt fic for Baby_babushka





	where we can talk like there's something to say (and i like you)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Baby_babushka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baby_babushka/gifts).



> A Reylo Valentine's Fic for Baby_babushka, who requested: _"Ben doesn’t like Valentine’s Day, Rey helps him change his mind."_
> 
> It took a little spin on me as I was writing it, but I hope you like the final result!

 

_"We're never done with killing time;_

_Can I kill it with you?"_

_~*~_

 

 

Ben Solo had celebrated Valentine's Day exactly three times in his life, not counting class parties in elementary school.

The first was in sixth grade. Middle school, and the first year that the teachers stopped making them bring cards for the whole class. Ben had had a crush on Amanda Massey for sixth months. She had a smile that lit up the room and she smelled like bubble gum. They'd kissed once (okay, so it was a game of spin-the-bottle) and she tasted like gum too - Fruitstripe. Ben had worked for two weeks on the card – a pale pink heart glued to a white doily and he had even copied a poem from a book with the "Learn Calligraphy" kit he'd bought at the school book fair. She had smiled kindly and said _'thank you'_ when Ben handed her the card, but when Ben asked if she'd go to the next school dance with him, she'd said she didn't really like him _that way_. Ben was, aptly, crushed.

The second Valentine's Day was in high school, junior year. He had been dating Bazine Natel since homecoming. She was a car fanatic and he had known from the start that she liked his car – the vintage Ford Falcon he’d inherited from his dad – more than him, but she was fun to hang out with and didn’t give him shit about his ears like a lot of his classmates so it worked out pretty well. Until she humiliated him by dumping him publicly at the school’s Valentine’s carnival.

After that, several Februaries had found Ben single. Sure, he dated throughout college and after graduating, but nothing very serious and none of his short-lived relationships overlapped with the _‘month of love.’_ And if he were honest, he'd admit that more recently, he found working late nights, laughing or complaining in turns, over cartons of take-out with his co-worker, Rey Johnson, infinitely more interesting than navigating the dating scene.

Last year, however, he'd been seeing Laura Paterson when February 14th came around and attempted to go all-out for his then-girlfriend. A box of chocolates, expensive perfume, one of those teddy bears holding a satin heart-shaped pillow, and dinner at Galatina’s – the whole nine yards. She'd forced a smile at accepting the gifts and then broken up with him via text the following day: _"Ben, I think we both need to admit we're going in different directions here."_

This was the story Ben relayed to Rey when she lamented being alone watching friends and coworkers make plans for Valentine's Day and he'd responded with a scoff. He would just as soon disregard the whole thing. Too much pressure for a holiday sponsored by Hallmark and Russel Stover.

"It's not supposed to be a cliché," Rey said between nibbling at her chicken wings, "It's supposed to be about, you know, letting someone know how much you care, celebrating that."

"Maker, Johnson, are you writing for greeting cards now? I know our work isn’t exactly thrilling, but it can’t be that bad."

"Shut up!" Rey laughed and chucked a balled-up napkin at him, "It's nice to let someone know they matter," she continued, a little softly.

She looked out the open door, into the vacant office across the way. Their supervisor, Phasma – Gwendolyn Phasma, but if anyone addressed her as Gwen or Gwendolyn other than her fiancé, they could expect to be eviscerated on the spot – had left early, going out to dinner with said fiancé, Dopheld Mitaka. It was only February 10th, but _he_ apparently wanted to make the holiday a week-long affair. Ben was torn between rolling his eyes at the overkill and appreciating that, at least, the guy's presence brought out Phasma's (slightly) softer side, which generally translated well to the atmosphere in the office.

Ben watched Rey for a moment, wondering if the sad glint he saw in her eyes was real or just his imagination, but the moment was gone too quick for him to be sure. With a minute shake of his head, he spoke again. “If you love someone - or hell, even if it isn't love, if you're _with_ someone, shouldn't they already know?"

"Well, hopefully, I guess," Rey said, shrugging. "But people get caught up, busy. A little reminder is nice sometimes, right?" She licked a spot of stray buffalo sauce from her thumb and Ben caught himself smiling, endeared by her casual demeanor.

"But there's all this pressure to get it right. And you do everything right, and it still doesn't work." Ben picked through the chicken bones in the cardboard box, and finding no wings remaining, dragged a piece of celery through the blue cheese dressing. He bit down on the vegetable with more force than necessary.

"It isn't about a checklist, Ben" Rey explained, shaking her head. "I mean, did Laura _like_ plushies? What was she going to do with a teddy bear after Valentine's Day?"

Ben only shrugged. He hadn't thought of it that way.

"How did you pick the perfume? Was it a scent she already used? Or did you just choose something in a pretty bottle from the department store counter?" Rey continued.

Ben chewed on the inside of his lip. That was, in fact, _exactly_ what he'd done.

"And did Galatina’s mean anything to you two? Was it where you had a first date or anything?"

"No." It was a steakhouse. Come to think of it, Laura had mentioned swearing off red meat around New Year's hadn't she? Ben had gotten a Groupon, and the reviews all said it was _supposed_ to be romantic.

"And-"

"Alright, alright, I get the point," Ben interrupted, holding up his hands in supplication. "And yeah, I bought the chocolates because the box was heart-shaped; I didn't think about what kind they were or if they'd taste good."

"See," Rey grinned at him over the desk, and Ben found himself momentarily caught off guard by the brilliance of her smile. "You're finally catching on!"

Ben cleared his throat and gestured down at the files spread across his own desk. "Well, Phas can have all the romantic outings she wants, but if we want to keep our paychecks, we better finish this up."

 

* * *

 

What Rey said lingered with Ben. Belatedly, he felt guilty for how his relationship with Laura had progressed. He hadn't evolved beyond the casual, short-lived flings he'd had in college, hadn't taken the time or made the effort to really integrate her into his life, had he? It wasn't that he had a sudden urge to try to rekindle the flame, but he couldn't help recognizing how unfair he'd been.

On the other hand he also arrived at the realization that, although he couldn't answer Rey's questions about Laura, he _could_ answer them about her – and with hardly a moment's notice.

Rey wouldn't be interested in teddy bears, but she _did_ collect porgs. She had a row of rubber porgs meant to look like different movie characters and celebrities lined up across her desk as well as a small stuffed one hanging from her keychain, and that time that Ben had dropped her off after the office Christmas party (he'd been roped into being the designated driver since he'd had his wisdom teeth out a few days prior and was banned from drinking while medicated) he'd seen several on her couch when he'd walked her to her door.

He also knew that while she'd happily eat chocolates – to say that Rey was enthusiastic about food would be an understatement – Rey's favorite candy was jelly beans - specifically the hideous coke and buttered popcorn flavored beans, _together_ for some unknown reason.

And maybe he didn't know what perfume she wore, but he knew she smelled like vanilla and some sort of flower and the cinnamon coffee she drank every morning.

And he had no clue why all this was rolling through his brain or what to do with the information.

All he knew is that he had a hard time focusing on whatever Dameron was rambling on about at the head of the conference table when Rey was picking apart a Danish and popping the bits of strawberry in her mouth one by one, licking frosting from her fingertips. When _exactly_ had he started thinking about what it'd be like to feed her, to feel her licking the sugary icing from his own fingertips? Maybe she'd pull one finger into her mouth, bite down as she met his gaze with a wicked smile dancing in her eyes.

 _Shit. Where did that come from?_ he thought, surreptitiously adjusting himself under the table, before standing up to leave, the staff meeting over at long last.  

"I don't know why Poe insists on these Wednesday morning _pep rallies_ ," Rey said with a sigh as she and Ben made their way back to their shared office. "When he has nothing to say but ' _Hey keep working hard.'_ "

"Right," Ben agreed in a distant tone. He hoped that she didn't want to complain about anything specific since he hadn't been paying attention. "He just likes to revel in the fact that Phasma gave him a little bit of authority." It wasn't untrue, but Ben smiled as he said it; Poe could be a little stuck on himself, but he was a decent guy.

Rey dropped into her seat and as she waited for her computer to start up, she tossed Ben the file he'd been looking over the previous night without prompting, "Speaking of working hard," she said, giving him a pitying grimace.

Ben groaned before opening the folder. Corporate taxes were monotonous under the best of circumstances, but First Order Holdings, the umbrella company that owned and leased out some of the most rundown apartment complexes in town, was one of their worst clients. Weeding through all the deductions they wanted to claim for the legitimate ones –  and worse, telling Armitage Hux when he came in to sign the finalized return forms that they couldn't fulfill all his requests – was an annual headache no amount of aspirin could relieve. 

"At least you don't have to feel guilty when you tell that greaseball _no, his trip to Hawaii can't be written off as a business expense, even though he bought a new vase for one of the leasing office lobbies while he was there._ " Rey offered, as she resumed working on the account she'd abandoned last night when they finally called it quits. She shook her head at the stack of papers in front of her. "Maz is so nice but her record keeping skills are not the best."

"I think that's intentional," Ben return with a chuckle. "I don't think all of her _connections_ are strictly legal." He'd prepared the woman’s taxes in the past. She'd been more than a little intentionally vague when he'd tried to pry for records of expenses, opting to skip claiming deductions if she had to.

"I offered to go down to her bar, help her set up an accounting program on their computer. Said I'd do it on my own free time, no charge. God knows it'd save me time and preserve my sanity now." Rey gave a wry smile as she sorted the receipts in front of her. "She refused, of course. Said the records she kept were all that we, or Uncle Sam, needed to see."

"Sounds about right."

Conversation ebbed as they each dug in, fingers flying across keyboards and calculators, the crinkle of receipts and the hum of the scanner. Some clients were more organized than others, sending over meticulous, detailed Quickbook reports, or at least thumb drives with all their paperwork scanned and saved as PDFs; others were more old-school, to put it mildly, bringing in file boxes of papers for the accountants to make sense of.

And make sense of it they did. Rey particularly was a master at noticing patterns and picking out the relevant information in any given mess of numbers. Ben knew that she would have preferred to remain working over in the pro-bono department, helping the crew that worked on filing tax returns at no charge for lower-income households, but a selfish part of him was glad her speed had caught Phasma's attention and brought her over to the small-business department of their accounting firm. January through April was particularly grueling, but even the presence of a friend made the long days and longer months a little nicer.

"Lunch?" Ben asked when he heard her stomach rumble at 2:09 pm.

"Sure." Rey glanced at her watch. "Wow, time flies when you're having fun," she joked weekly.

"I'll go see if the cafeteria downstairs has anything decent left," he said, rising to his feet and rolling his cramped shoulders.

Bane and Beckett Financial Services was only one of several companies that occupied the building, so heading to the little cafeteria on the first floor late meant shorter lines, but also less of a selection, as he discovered when faced with some questionable looking egg salad sandwiches and a sad, solitary slice of pepperoni pizza.

Knowing that Rey would still be working, not willing to give herself a break and a chance to relax until Ben returned with food in hand, he jogged down the street to a convenience store to see if the selection was any better. It wasn't by much but as he overpaid for a pair of turkey and Swiss subs, maybe he _did_ also snag a bag of buttered popcorn Jelly Belly beans from the candy aisle (they didn't carry the cola flavor there), for _absolutely_ no reason at all.

 

* * *

 

Maybe it did feel good to see Rey's face light up. Maybe she was right about letting someone know that you care.

Or maybe he was overthinking his impulsive decision to buy Rey candy out of the blue. After all, they were friends and traded off picking up the tab for lunches (or dinners, on late nights) all the time. It wasn't any different from the times that Rey had made a second stop to grab him an iced tea from Dex’s Diner because the tea at their favorite gyro place always tasted a bit stale.

It was just how they operated, that's all.

When he found himself in front of Build-A-Bear Workshop, looking at the limited edition space porg they were carrying, he didn't have a good excuse.

He'd come to the mall after work only because he was dangerously low on his gel-based hair Serum and he could only get his favorite brand – Tommy Fresh – from the salon shops.

Which is how he'd ended up walking into Build-a-Bear at ten minutes before closing and convincing the bored shop girl to help him customize the plushie.

It wasn't until he arrived home that Ben started to panic about the porg. It was a bit much, wasn't it? To buy Rey random presents? He hadn't thought about it explicitly before, but ever since she pointed out how poorly he'd been invested in previous relationships, he couldn't get out of his mind how invested he felt in _her_ , and they weren't dating.

He wouldn't wrap it, he finally decided. That would be a step too far. And he could tell the truth - he was shopping, saw the porg, thought of her. Leave it at that.

Ben arrived at work early the next morning and set the stuffed porg on Rey's desk chair then tried - and failed - to occupy himself with finalizing the forms for Mr. Hux to sign until Rey came in.

It was the 12th, he insisted to himself. _Not_ Valentine’s Day, and so his gift didn't need to be interpreted as romantic.

Though he might as well admit, at least to himself, that he wouldn't mind if it was.

"I was just walking through the mall!" he burst out when Rey walked into their shared office. He sounded for all the world like a child who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar before dinner, rather than a full grown man well on his way to being made partner at an accounting firm.

Understandably, Rey was confused, giving Ben an odd look until she circled around the desk and saw the porg.

Then she did gasp, and to Ben's delight, a joyful smile lit up her face.

"Ben!" It was her turn to cry out. "It's adorable! Why...?"

Ben cleared his throat and tried again, hoping he didn't sound too much like a teenage girl. "I had to stop at the salon at the mall and I saw Build-A-Bear had porgs and I knew you liked them." He shrugged a little too emphatically.

Rey picked up the porg and gave it a squeeze. Then she tilted her head and gave Ben a long, quizzical look. It was almost unnerving; he could see the wheels turning in her head, like when she was trying to sort out a potential contradiction in a client's records and he wondered what she was thinking.

Finally, she nodded and reached over to squeeze Ben's hand. "Thank you, Ben," she said with a sincere smile. "It’s really sweet."

"I think I finished up the FO return. Now the fun part, meeting with Hux to review it." Ben said, desperate to change the subject. But it was hard to get through the rest of the day, distracted as he was by the curious glances Rey kept throwing his way.

 

* * *

 

_It's nothing._

_It's not nothing._

Rey couldn't stop from arguing with herself every time she glanced at the stuffed porg that seemed to occupy much more space the actual square foot it resided in on the corner of her desk. Or every time she popped a jelly bean into her mouth.

 _She wasn't imagining things, was she?_ It was weird that within 48 hours of Rey teasing Ben about the lack of attention and personal touch he'd put into buying gifts for his last ex-girlfriend, he had brought Rey her favorite candy and an adorable stuffed animal to add to her porg collection. Two of the gift items they'd just been talking about.

It _was_ weird, wasn't it? Good weird; she had felt butterflies fluttering around in her stomach when Ben's cheeks had flushed a faint pink as she hugged the plushie. But weird nonetheless.

Still, she was afraid to read into it. Rey wouldn't say she'd been moping or _pining_ away, but at some point, since she'd started working at Bane and Beckett, her companionship with her colleague had definitely moved into the realm of _crush_.

She didn't know exactly when it started, but it had dawned on her, about six months previously, as she was complaining about another horrible first date over drinks to her friend Rose, that all of her recent dissatisfaction with dating had something in common. She'd subconsciously been comparing each awkward date, each failed attempt at pursuing a relationship, with Ben and what she had with him.

She knew she was a goner when a delicious dinner at a fancy restaurant with a completely adequate guy – good looking, attentive but not pushy – had been utterly boring and she found herself longing instead for a late night poring over files and eating reheated Thai food from Styrofoam takeout containers back at the office with Ben.

Ben, however, had seemed completely clueless to Rey's growing affection – not that she had said or done anything to address it. But for the first time, she began to wonder if he might be hiding the same feelings.

And maybe, just maybe, she dressed a little nicer than usual when she went into work the next day.

_Stars, she hoped she was reading this right._

Unfortunately, there was no real opportunity to test the waters or feel Ben out to see if there really _was_ something behind the sudden, unexpected gifts. It was Friday the 13th and the day seemed determined to live up to its own bad reputation. Armitage Hux was late coming in to meet with Ben, and as expected, complained that they weren't deducting enough. It left him in a sour mood for the rest of the day. And one of Rey's clients dropped off an additional month's worth of expense reports when she'd almost been finished preparing the return forms.

At 10 minutes before 6 pm, however, Phasma dropped an unexpected gift, disguised as a punishment, into Rey's lap when she plopped a file on her desk and asked her to put a rush on it.

"We have several other customers who brought their files in _on time_ that I'll have to push back, you know," Rey grumbled in irritation.

"I realize that," Phasma said, her voice condescending. "But you know how vital their business is to us, don't you? Nearly 15% of our year-round profits rely on maintaining this account. It gets handled as soon as they bring documents over."

Rey sighed and snatched the file and flash drive from her boss then glared at her retreating form as she left the room. On the other side of the office, Ben was straightening up his desk and getting ready to leave for the night.

"Um," he cleared his throat awkwardly, "I can help you tackle that one. We can come in tomorrow and work on it. Might be able to knock it out in one day."

Rey stared up at him for a moment. Tomorrow. Saturday. Saturday, _February 14th_.

She couldn't say she wanted to spend the day working. But she wasn't going to pass up the chance to have him to herself on Valentine’s Day. With the rest of the office empty.

"Right." Rey heard her own reply as if from afar or underwater. "That'd be good."

He had to know, didn't he? She knew he wasn't seeing anyone. She knew _he_ knew she wasn't seeing anyone. And Rey had all but spelled out that she was disappointed about spending Valentine's Day alone.

Or maybe he really didn't think anything of it. Work was work and he was kind of a self-described Valentine's Scrooge.

But Rey wasn't, and just maybe she'd convince him it wasn't such a bad holiday after all.

 

* * *

 

Saturdays in the office weren't entirely unprecedented, especially in the first quarter, and especially as April drew nearer.

The lingerie that Rey chose to wear under her practical but nicely tailored slacks and blouse (that hugged her curves in the best possible way _if she did say so herself, thank you very much_ ) was more than a little out of the ordinary, however. The soft peach lace, just a few shades paler than her tanned skin was definitely more about form than function.

The building itself wasn't empty; the call center on the fourth floor was open 24-7, just in case someone needed to order a new squeegee mop at half past midnight on Sunday and hadn't figured out the wonders of internet shopping, and there was a lawyer on the tenth floor that seemed to live in his office when he wasn't at the courthouse.

Rey and Ben, however, had the third floor to themselves today. The dermatology practice across the hall was closed on the weekends and she and Ben were the only loners in their accounting firm with no dates or plans for the day. Something she was hoping to alter by the time they left for the night.

"I come bearing coffee," Rey sang as she walked in to find Ben already at his desk. "The good stuff from Sil’s Place, not the cafeteria."

She plopped Ben's caramel mocha in front of him and sat down with her own double shot cinnamon latte. It wasn't unusual for them to trade picking up drinks for each other, but after Ben's previous gifts – and with a constant reminder of the slightly itchy lace hidden under her practical clothes – Rey couldn't help but feel just a little different about it today.

"Thanks, by the way," she mumbled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "for giving up your Saturday."

"Anytime," Ben replied. He took a careful sip of his hot coffee with a smile. "Thanks for caffeinating me."

"It was the least I could do," Rey answered, not untruthfully. She had to stop for her own coffee. _It wasn't like she had been tempted to buy the ludicrously cheesy heart-shaped sugar cookies or pink frosted cupcakes the shop had been selling or anything._

For the next few hours, they worked in companionable near silence, only speaking to clarify information on the files before them. Despite Rey's nerves – she didn't have much of a plan in place aside from "wear sexy underwear" – it wasn't awkward. She and Ben were a good team; they worked well together. Preparing taxes hadn't been Rey's dream career, but she was good at it. And working with Ben wasn't half bad.

"You know, this wasn't what I had in mind when I majored in math," she said with a wistful sigh when they stopped for lunch a little after one.

"What did you have in mind?"

"I minored in journalism. That's what I really wanted to do." Rey shrugged as she picked at her lunch. "My career counselor recommended a major that was more marketable. I'm annoyed that she was right." 

Every application to local newspapers, magazines, or online-only news outlets had been met with stock replies about seeking candidates with more experience, and the only places that wanted to give her a chance wanted her to work for free, or as they termed it "for exposure."

Exposure didn't pay the bills, but accounting did.

Ben nodded. "I hope you get to do what you really want to someday," he said with a surprisingly sincere and wistful tone in his voice.

"I keep saying maybe I could start a blog, start doing my own thing, but... blogs are kinda overdone these days and this-" she gestured around the room, "-takes up all my time. But I mean, does anyone really dream of accounting?" she continued.

"My uncle," Ben said with a chuckle. "He's half the reason I'm here."

"Really?" Rey had never pried about Ben's start at the firm, or why, even though he'd been around much longer than her, he never applied for any promotions.

"Luke Skywalker? Of Skywalker Accounting," Ben explained. "I worked for him right out of college. My mother used to envision me taking over someday."

"And clearly that wasn't your plan?" Rey guessed, given the fact that he was _here_ and not _there_ , despite the fact that with the combination of his clear natural talent with numbers, and the boost that nepotism could give him, he could probably have his pick of clients, rather than sit back and let Phasma order him around. 

"We had a… falling out, you could say." Ben gave a wry smile. "He was kind of a jackass to work with, but it's been long enough that I can admit that I am too."

"No, you're not." Rey couldn't help but laugh when Ben quirked an eyebrow and smirked at her denial. "Okay, sometimes you can be a bit, um, _blunt_. But only to people that need it like Hux. But I really like you," she blurted out, her voice more forceful than the conversation warranted.

 _Working with you!_ Rey froze. She meant to say _I really like working with you._ She ducked her head as if she was suddenly very interested in picking the last of the fruit pieces from her parfait. She didn't bother to correct herself, though. It wasn't untrue, even if she had planned to broach the subject a little more gracefully. 

The silence probably only lasted a handful of seconds but it felt like an eternity before Ben breathed out a faint whisper of a question.

"Rey?"

Rey looked up, sure her cheeks must be roughly the color of a ripe tomato. Ben's face was frustratingly blank, staring curiously at her with those damned, soulful brown eyes and she couldn't get a read on what he thought of her unreasonably impassioned declaration. But she could just see a faint hint of pink on the tips of his ears, peeking through his messy, dark hair. So he probably gathered that she wasn't just saying they should pair up for team-building exercises on the next company retreat.

Rey took a deep breath, steeling herself. She had come into the office today with the intention of _finally_ saying something, and sure, she wished she'd said something more clever or flirty or at least something that sounded less like a note slipped into a locker between classes in middle school. But she was going to roll with it.

"I intended to say that I like working with you, but I do, Ben. I like _you_. " Rey locked her eyes on his. "And I thought – hoped – that maybe the candy and the porg meant that you like me too."

“I think the porg likes you,” Ben said.

“The porg didn’t buy me candy though.”

“No, that was definitely me.”

"You didn't spring for the perfume though?" Rey smiled, easing into the game.

"Well, I know how you feel about pretty bottles." Ben feigned a disinterested shrug.

"I didn't say I _don't_ like pretty bottles, just that it's not a good deciding factor," Rey corrected as she stood up, slowly began to cross the small room, and circle his desk. "You should know the scent you're going for."

Ben wrapped one of his stupidly large hands around Rey's wrist and gave a sharp tug, sending her toppling into his lap. The playful smirk twisted on his lips didn't quite reach his eyes, which still held a nervous question, asking if he'd overstepped. Rey gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile in return; she didn't mind at all.

Emboldened, he smoothed a lock of Rey's hair behind one ear and leaned in to inhale deeply, running his nose along her jaw, eliciting a small gasp from Rey. "Hmm. Laundry soap. Some sort of fruity shampoo…and something vanilla?"

"Warm Vanilla Sugar," Rey said, giggling slightly as his breath tickled her neck. His arms wrapped around her midsection, trapping her in a hug. "Bath and Body Works."

"Where do you think I can find something that has all those notes, plus," he paused and sniffed the air in an exaggerated way, "leftover Chinese takeout?"

"Hey now!" Rey smacked Ben's shoulder, the previous moment disrupted by their laughter. "If I have bad breath from lunch, so do you."

"Hmm, true." Ben wore a faux thoughtful expression. "So, if we're in the same boat, there's no reason to _not_ kiss you right now, then, is there?" His eyes grew serious again as he focused the intently on her.

"No reason at all."  Rey's voice came out as the breath of a whisper, laced with anticipation, tilting her head closer to his.

Tentatively, Ben lifted one hand to cup the back of Rey's neck and his eyes darted from hers, down to her mouth and back up again, all levity forgotten. His other arm was still wrapped around her waist loosely, and she shivered as he began to trace one hand lightly up and down her spine.

Rey swallowed thickly and wrapped her own arms around Ben's neck as she leaned in, finally closing the gap between them, and hoping, all jokes aside, that the sweet and sour chicken they'd had for lunch really didn't leave too much of a lingering taste behind.

Ben actually _sighed_ , as if in relief, when their lips met and the tiny sound, the little puff of breath against her own skin was so tender, so wistful, that it set her stomach fluttering. She tightened her grip on Ben, one hand tangling into her hair as she shifted on his lap, trying, helplessly, to get closer to him, to eliminate any measure of distance between their bodies.

" _Rey_ ," Ben muttered, a reverent whisper, soft, even as his grasp on her grew tighter, fingertips digging into her skin. He nipped at her bottom lip, and she may have actually whimpered at that, reveling in the contrast of his sharp teeth and the softest lips she'd ever felt.

Twisting her own fingers harder in his hair, tugging just a little, Rey grinned to herself when he groaned and took advantage of the moment to deepen the kiss. There _was_ some hint of tang from the sweet and sour sauce and bitterness of the coffee he'd been drinking all morning, but even if Rey should have been bothered or grossed out, she wasn't because it was still Ben and heat and familiarity and _Ben_ and no other kiss held a candle to this one, right now.

Rey twisted awkwardly under Ben's firm grip until she was able to maneuver her legs into straddling him. The office chair was hardly built for two, to say the least, but Rey had no doubt in her mind that Ben found the close quarters… _acceptable_.

Rey rocked forward, as best she could, given the cramped space, and her whimper mirrored Ben's when he dropped his hands to her hips, holding her tight against him.

"You know," he breathed out, voice ragged, "I'd planned on asking you to go out to dinner after we finished up working. I was– " His breath caught for a moment when Rey trailed a row of kisses along his jaw, to the pulse point just under his ear as he spoke, not wanting to tear her lip away from him if she didn't have to. "I was supposed to take you somewhere nice before trying to start something like this."

"Oh? Did you want me to stop?" Rey asked, drawing away for a moment with a teasing smile.

"Not on your life, Johnson," Ben growled, pulling her close again.

"But you were going to ask me out _tonight_?" Rey was genuinely curious. "You _know_ it's Valentine's Day."

"Yup," Ben responded, pressing a kiss to her collarbone.

"You _hate_ Valentine's Day." Rey stroked Ben's hair, holding him in place and sighing as he opened his mouth, nipping and sucking a tiny tattoo into the skin there. "I think you called it – oh! – a conspiracy cooked up by candy companies and jewelry stores."

"But _you_ don't," Ben answered, lifting his head again, meeting her gaze in earnest. "And I guess I can see what you meant about letting someone know you care."

Rey blinked, almost overwhelmed. The words he was saying weren't all that out of the ordinary, but the intensity of his voice shook her. She struggled to think of something playful and flirty to say, and failing, just whispered a breathy, " _Ben_."

"I mean it. Rey, I like you and I want to do all the stupid things to show you how _much_ I like you." Ben took a deep breath. "Because it's not stupid when it makes you smile."

Rey yanked Ben's face back to hers, barely able to kiss him properly because of the grin spreading across her face, and settling for pressing her smiling lips against his as best she could.

"Ben?" As she spoke, she brushed her nose against his, wanting every bit of contact she could get.

"Yeah?" Ben seemed to be on the same page, peppering her cheek, her chin, the corner of her mouth with little kisses.

"Never try to write greeting cards, ok?" she giggled, exhaling softly. She turned to meet a kiss meant for her cheek, capturing his mouth with hers instead. "But I… I really like making you smile, too."

Rey kissed him deeply then as if she could breathe him in, subsist on his lips and tongue and taste instead of oxygen. 

"I want to make you smile," she said again, punctuating her words with a kiss to his jaw. "And make you moan." She pressed her lips to the hollow at the base of his throat. "And groan." And he did, when she took his earlobe between his teeth. "And make you fall apart, just for me."

"I won't try to dissuade you," Ben choked out. His hands gripped her hips so intently she thought she might bruise.

"And just so you know, I can think of one very particular Valentine’s Day cliché you won't consider stupid." Rey gave Ben a flirty smile as she leaned back a little in her perch on his lap to twist the top button of her blouse between two fingers.

"Is that so?" Ben's reply was nonchalant, but the shallow, haggard pace of his breath gave him away.

"Mm-hm." Rey began to unfasten her buttons slowly. "It's the one where you buy yourself brand new lingerie – pretty, impractical lingerie – just to drive someone wild."

Ben swallowed heavily, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. Rey could practically feel the weight of his gaze on her as she shrugged the blouse down on to her shoulders, showing off said impractical lace.

"You planned for this?" he marveled, his voice strained.

"I figured it was time for you to stop hating Valentine's Day," Rey said with a smile.

"I think it's safe to say I've gotten over that," Ben responded, leaning in to capture Rey's mouth again. “It just might be my new favorite holiday.”

It may not have been the most productive day Rey spent at the office, but it certainly was the most _fun_. Who ever said accountants were boring?

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Undeta'd - I apologize for any mistakes!
> 
> If anyone is wondering, yes, Ben's cliche gifts for Laura were inspired by Parks and Rec, when Mark celebrates Valentine's Day with Ann but doesn't manage to make it personal. And yes, Ben's favorite hair serum brand is named after Tom Haverford. 
> 
> And porgs are a real animal in this universe and so rubber porgs are like rubber ducks.
> 
>  
> 
> (PS - Don't look too close at their accounting jobs - I don't really know what I'm talking about there lol)


End file.
